Cameroon’s gay “prisoner of conscience” died on Friday, according to the Associated Press.

Roger Jean-Claude Mbede, 34, was convicted under Cameroon’s stringent anti-gay laws after he sent a text message to a male friend that read, “I’m very much in love with you.” A court sentenced him to three years in prison.

Mbede was granted a temporary medical release after he developed a hernia that required hospitalization. His family removed him from the hospital’s care despite what activists’ described as a rapidly deteriorating condition.

“His family said he was a curse for them and that we should let him die,” Mbede’s lawyer told AP.